Brick-handling appliance.



PATENT ED MAR. 31, 1908,

, 0. CARLSON. BRICK HANDLING APPLIANCE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 13,1907.

8 Omar Q'zrlfm UNITED sTAtri'is PATENT OFFICE.

OSCAR CARLSON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO FRANK G.THESELIUS,

OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

BRICK-HANDLING APPLIANCE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 31, 1908.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OSCAR CARLsoN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and usefuLImprovements in a Brick-HandlingAppliance, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in an appliance or apparatus tobe used by brick layers or brick masons for handling and laying brick,and while it is more especially intended for use by such operators inlaying brick for pavements, yet it is applicable for handling brick forother purposes; and it consists in certain peculiarities of theconstruction, novel arrangement, and operation of the various partsthereof, as will be hereinafter more fully set forth and specificallyclaimed.

The principal object of the invention is to provide an ap hence of theabove-named character, whic shall be simple and ineXpensive inconstruction, strong, durable and effective in operation, and so madethat a plurality of bricks may be held or supported in alinement withone another thereby, so that they may be removed from one place anddeposited in position to form a part of the pavement or structure.

Another object of the invention is to rovide means for adjusting themembers 0 the device so that it may be adapted to brick of differentsizes, and so that the leverage of the 1clanping members for the brickmay be reguate Other objects and advantages of the invention will bedisclosed in the subjoined description and explanation.

In order to enable others skilled in the art to which my inventionpertains, to make and use the same, I will now proceed to describe it,referring to the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is aperspective view of a brick handling appliance embodying my invention,showing by dotted lines a series of brick held thereby and in positionto be moved from one place to another. Fig. 2 is a longitudinalsectional view of a portion of an inclined chute in connection withwhich I may sometimes employ the brick handling appliance, illustratingsaid chute loaded with brick. Fig. 3 is a crosssectional view of thechute taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2 looking in the direction indicated bythe arrows. Fig. 4: is a cross-sectional view of the brick handlingappliance. Fig. 5 is an enlarged viewpartly in section and partly inelevation of one of the clamping members of the device ;and-Fig. 6 is aplan view partly in section taken on line 6 6 of Fig. 5 looking in thedirection in dicated by the arrows.

Like numerals of reference, refer to corresp onding parts throughout thedifferent views of the drawing.

As before stated, my invention is more particularly intended for use bybrick-layers engaged in laying pavements for streets, alleys andsidewalks, and in order to save the time and labor of the brick-mason orbrick-layer in walking back and forth. from the pile of brick to thepoint where he is laying them, a chute properly supported in an inclinedposition is employed, on which the brick are passed by an ordinarylaborer and slide to the lower end of the chute in reach of thebrick-mason. In the present instance I have shown an inclined chute, theupper end of which may rest on a wagon loaded with brick, or on a pileof the same, and the lower end of which may be located near the point atwhich the brick-mason is laying the brick, and this chute consists oftwo parallel side pieces 10, between which are transversely journaled inclose proximity to each other, a series of rollers 11, the uppersurfaces of which are located near the top of the upper edges of thepieces 10, but at a sufficient distance below said edges to prevent thebrick 12, which rest on and glide over the rollers 11, from falling offthe chute at either side. The lower ends of the side pieces 10 aretransversely connected by means of a board or piece 13, which acts as astop for the brick and also serves to brace the side pieces, whichpieces are also connected together at suitable points on their lowersurfaces by means of cross-bars 14, through the middle portion of eachof which is passed a bolt 15, on the upper end of which bolts is secureda longitudinally extending bar 16 which divides the upper portion of thechute into two longitudinal compartments or races, through which thebrick will pass from the upper end of the chute to the lower endthereof.

The brick handling appliance, which .I may and may not use in connectionwith a chute of the above-described construction, consists of a member17, of any suitable size and material, butpreferably of metal, and ofsufficient length to form a support for one side of four-alined brick 12as illustrated. in Fig. 1 of the drawing. Near each of its ends, theplate or member 17, which when in use is adapted to assume a horizontalposition with its side edges presented vertically, is provided. with astrap or bracket 18,'wh1ch extends laterally from the upper surface ofthe member 17 and each has its free end slotted or provided with forks19, between which forks of each bracket 18 is pivotally secured a lever20, which carries on its lower portion a clamping member 21 whichextends longitudinally with respect to the member or plate 17, and havetheir ends slightly deflected as at 22 towards the plate 17, in orderthat they may effectually engage brick of different sizes or unevensurfaces.

As shown in Figs. 1, 4 to 6, inclusive, the lower portions of the levers20 are rounded in cross-section, and each carries a transverse pin 23.The rounded portion of each of the levers 20 is loosely located in asocket 24 at the middle of the clamping member 21 which said levercarries, and the transverse in on said lever projects at each of itsends through a slightly enlarged opening 25 in the socket 24, thuspermitting a restricted movement of the clamping members so that theymay adjust themselves to bricks of different sizes. The prongs 19 ofeach ofthe brackets 18 are provided with a series of openings 26, forthe reception of pivot pins for the levers 20, so that they may besuitably adjusted with respect to the member 17 in order to cause theclamping members 21 to engage brick of different sizes. The upperportion of each of the levers 20 is inclined towards the member 17, asshown, and each is provided with a series of openings 27, so that thehandle 28, which connects the levers 20 together and extendslongitudinally above and with respect to the member 17, may be suitabladjusted by means of pins passing through said openings into the ends ofthe handle. The upper edge of the member 17 on the opposite side thereoffrom the clamping members 21 is provided with a longitudinally extendingcleat 29, which will afford engagement for the convenience of the operator.

The operation of the device is simple and as follows-the handle 28 andcleat 29 are l in alined position, and may be transferred to the placeof deposit.

In Fig. 1, the device is shown in position for supporting four-brick inalinement with one another, and while I refer to construct it for such anumber, yet do not desire to be limited to said number, as I mayconstruct. the appliance for handling two or more brick at a time. Inthe above-named view it will be seen that each of the members 21engagetwo brick, and when the device is being lifted or removed willress them against the member 17 and it is a so obvious that as the endsof each of the members 21 is slightly deflected towards the member 17they will firmly hold the brick even if the latter were of differentsizes, and this object is also attained by providing the members 21 witha restricted movement on their respective levers.

In using the device in connection with a chute constructed as shown inFigs. 2 and 3 and above-described, it is apparent that the longitudinalextending bar 16 will hold the rows of brick at a sufficient distanceapart,

in order to permit the member 17, or, when desired, the members 21,being interposed therebetween, so that the upper portions of the bricksmay be engaged by said members and removed from the chute to the placeof deposit.

It is apparent that by using the chute constructed with two races orcompartments for the passage of the brick when a number of brick areremoved from one compartment while the other compartment is filled, thebrick in the compartment from which those are removed will not slidedown until others are removed from the other race or compart ment, byreason of the fact that the rollers cannot move when one of thecompartments is filled.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters-Patent, is

1. A brick handling a pliance consisting of a member having a laterallyextending bracket on its upper portion between its ends,

a lever fulcrumed near the free end of saidbracket and adapted to movetransversely with respect to said member, and a clamping member mountedfor restricted movement on the lower portion of the lever and extend inglongitudinally with respect to the firstnamed member.

2. A brick handling appliance consisting of a member having a pluralityof spaced apart and laterally extending brackets on its upper portion, alever fulcrumed on each of said brackets, a clamping member mounted onthe lower portion of each of said levers and extending longitudinallywith respect to the bracket-carrying member, and a handle uniting theupper portion of the levers.

3. A brick handling appliance consisting of a member having at its upperportion a plurality of laterally extending brackets, a levers. everlulcrumed on each of sald brackets, a- OSCAR CARLSON clamping membermounted for restricted 5 movement on the lower portion of each ofWitnesses:

said levers and extending longitudinally With CHAS. C. TILLMAN, respectto the bracket-carrying member, and M. A. NYMAN.

a handle uniting the upper portion of said 7

